Reservations required ?

[drneo66]

Seems like around New England the reservation system for state parks is Reserve America https://www.reserveamerica.com. One of the biggest problems I have run into is that RA takes reservations 6 months in advance so January 1st, people jump on the site and reserve the dates they think they may want to use. This just in case I want to go really seems to bugger up travel plans as so many times sites are reserved and paid for but something comes up and the site, while paid for, sits empty while one is looking for a spot.

This is more a commentary on rude behavior on the part of inconsiderate people to not notify the facility that they can't make the reservation and open up the spot to someone waiting. The site managers don't like the no-shows either as when someone arrives looking for a spot, sees 3 empty sites and is told they are sold/spoken for.

Good luck on prospecting for a site.

OM

We had this scenario play out several times this past summer in Minnesota, I suspect mostly due to the weather. My wife and I would decide to go camping on Thursday, grab one of the last remaining sites, then show up on Friday afternoon to a half-filled park even though all of the sites were booked. I guess as long as everyone is paying upfront, I don't mind. However, if you can book 6-months out and then cancel at 3:59pm the day of, that's a little disappointing.

@LetsRide - the farther you are away from the Twin Cities in Minnesota, the more camping availability you have. I've heard that Minnesota has nice roads...

[motormike]

I like to stay in historic hotels and B&B's. Since these types of lodging tend to have fewer rooms, I book well in advance of my departure date. Often 6 to 10 months out. Even that's not early enough if you want to stay in one of the famous National Park lodges. On the return trip, I just book chain hotels the day before. It usually works out, but... More than once, I've gotten to my destination late in the day, only to find some special event I wasn't aware of has every hotel in town booked solid. Ugh!

[rj555]

As a resident of western South Dakota, specifically the Black Hills. During tourist season I recommend making reservations. As a salty traveler I recommend it. It is peace of mind. It takes away some of the stress of traveling.

[22600]

I took a 6 month RV trip Sep.1st 2019 Thru Feb.2020 . From searching the internet and National Parks and State parks , I knew I had to make reservations way ahead of time. I made some reservations as far a 6 months ahead of time and some less as a few NP's don't allow it. Some I never could get a reservation, especially in Utah; I ended up camping on BLM land a few times which was ok. I always make reservations when I'm with my family but when by myself and on my bike, I just wing it.

I would say if you're going to stay in NP's or SP's make reservations weeks or months ahead of time and if in motels/hotels a few days if you can plan it that close.

[czawade]

We usually book the same day, through an app like Expedia, unless there is an expectation of slim pickings. For example, if going to the Rally, we'll book a year in advance. Last summer while traveling through the fires in BC, we would also book a couple of days in advance, given that many hotels were filled with evacuees.

Otherwise, we will usually see how the day is going, and assess around lunchtime where we might get to by mid-late afternoon. We will then book through Expedia and thus have the comfort of knowing a room is waiting for us somewhere.

But...Covid has changed things, as we learned last summer. Hotels (and restaurants) are so short of staff that services are restricted. Most of the hotels had changed from a 11:00 or noon checkout and 3:00 check-in to 10:00 check-out and 4:00 check-in. And if you get there before 4:00, don't expect they'll have a room ready for you, and you might have to wait in the lounge for a while. We even had a hotel in Victoria that, for whatever reason, had to put us up in another hotel on the next block.

With that in mind, this summer we may try to book at least 48 hours in advance, depending on what our expected mileage will be.

caz

[Visian]

Stop nlt 2pm, see where you’ll be at 5pm and use Booking.com to find an open room.

[hstender]

Let me just say that if you’re planning on staying anywhere in the South Dakota Black Hills in summer, you’d better have reservations well in advance. Rooms there are taken far in advance during tourist season. I lived there many years and know.